Well, it's final!
The Kars - Tbilisi - Baku railroad is going to be built. The construction starts in spring 2007. This is despite the pretending by the Armenian government to stop any progress of the negotiations, and the promises gained by the US government not to participate in the funding of the project. The estimated cost of the new railroad is $480 million which is a small amount - even Armenia would be able to raise enough funds. The excitement of the Foreign Minister Oskanian over the US promises was ill founded.
Well, while the Armenian nation is busy spending its resources on the recognition of the 1915 Genocide, the Azeris and the Turks have been busy achieving practical results in isolating Armenia further. The isolation of Armenia is a stated strategic goal of Azerbaijan. Once this railroad is built, all that remains to make Armenia a geopolitical ghetto is to build a pipeline and a railroad from Iran to Georgia via Turkey or Azerbaijan.
Way out is to invest in telecom and develope IT but that is also controlled by Russians now who do their best to keep Armenia under their control therefore keep her as a military based.
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